Degory Elder

Degory Elder (14 June 1840-15 August 1902) was a US Republican Party politician from Ohio who sat in the US House of Representatives as the congressman from the 7th district during the 1860s and 1870s.

Biography
Degory Elder was born in Canton, Ohio on 14 June 1840, the son of a watch-maker. He graduated from the University of Cleveland in 1862 with a law degree, and he was drafted into the US Army during the American Civil War. In 1865, he returned home as a war hero, and he was elected to the US House of Representatives as a member of the liberal US Republican Party. Elder led the liberalization of Ohio during Reconstruction, leading to the rise of the "Midwestern Machine". Elder was popular among his constitutents, as he was seen as a champion of business interests and populism. This secured him reelection for several terms, and Elder would ally with several other Ohian Republicans to promote the party across the state. Elder left Congress in 1877, and he returned to practicing law at home. He died in 1902.